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Members of WNC Button Club seek history, art, beauty in fasteners

Mary Mason, left, and Kay Vocelle, both with the Western North Carolina Button Club, look over some buttons during the club's August meeting in Brevard.

Mike Dirks / Times-News

By ELIZABETH JENNINGSTimes-News Correspondent

Published: Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 6:56 p.m.

Thirty years ago, Helen Vance was working in her antiques shop in Homestead, Fla., when a woman came in and asked her if she'd like to buy an old button collection the woman had inherited.

“She said she had loose buttons in a box, but she couldn't lift it, that's how many buttons she had,” Vance said. “I didn't know much about buttons at the time, but my husband and I went to her house to get them, and I started sorting through them. That's how I got hooked.”

Today, Vance has a whole room dedicated to buttons, and the walls throughout her Brevard home are lined with large cards displaying buttons she's entered in various contests around the country. She estimates she has at least 40,000 buttons.

“I've started counting a few times, but I always get overwhelmed,” she explained.

Her collection includes a 1700s button from the Hudson Bay Company, a Victorian mourning button that contains hair from a deceased loved one and a smuggler's button that could have been used to smuggle small gems in the 18th century.

Vance is president of the Western North Carolina Button Club, an affiliate of the National Button Society, which has more than 2,500 members all over the world. Recently, she and other members of the club gathered to explain the surprisingly strong appeal of button collecting.

Researching the history behind buttons is what attracted Kay Vocelle, who travels to meetings from Taylors, S.C. “I've learned more history through buttons than I ever learned in school,” Vocelle said.

“No matter what type of button you have, you have to look up something about it.”

Vocelle's collection of Jacksonian buttons is a case in point.

These are gilt vest buttons depicting key symbols of American history during the time of Andrew Jackson's presidency. Vocelle, who is 82, has presented programs on Jacksonian buttons as well as many other topics such as French fop buttons, which were worn on men's vests after the French Revolution and reflect the social upheaval and eccentric dress of the time. When she was 70, Vocelle even wrote a book for beginning button collectors.

In the past few years, Vocelle's daughter, Cindy Baldwin, has joined her as a collector.

“Buttons are so beautiful,” Baldwin said, enthusiastically showing one of the most valuable buttons in the club — a type of shimmering beaded glass named coralene that produces a delicate and muted effect.

“That's what I like about them.”

Like many people, Mary Mason of Hendersonville remembers being fascinated by her grandmother's button box as a child.

“It was a special treat to be allowed to look at a set of gilded Civil War era buttons,” she said. When she inherited the collection, she framed some and used others to make button jars as mementos for her sisters.

To her, the allure of button collecting is largely its artistic element.

“Buttons — especially old buttons — are little works of art,” she said. “It's like I have my own miniature museum.”

Mason is an artist herself and especially enjoys examining the different materials that have been used to make buttons over the centuries, including molded wood composition and other early plastics. She has recently begun creating her own buttons either by carving them out of antler or sculpting them out of porcelain and stoneware. Her sculpted buttons are part of her series of fruit and vegetable pottery — apples, pears, grapes and more — that she produces in her Rusty Clay studio.

This past May, Mason won three blue ribbons at North Carolina's state contest, despite being a relative newcomer to competitions. The club as a whole brought back the most blue ribbons in the state.

While it might surprise outsiders, the competition and show aspects of button collecting are vigorous and widespread.

“My eyes are being opened,” Mason said with a laugh.

Last month, more than 400 people from around the world participated in the national convention in Wisconsin. Such competitions keep members searching the Internet for buttons around the globe to complete a set to enter.

For example, one recent contest category was for silver buttons, but each entry had to include five Native American silver buttons, five Mexican silver buttons, five peasant-style silver buttons and five free-choice silver buttons.

Vance, who is 84 and didn't know how to turn on her computer until her husband died in 2002, said she often spends hours searching eBay and other online sources for unique buttons. In the process, she's gotten to know button fans all over the world.

In fact, connecting with like-minded people might be the one thing all button collectors appreciate most. Club members are different ages, come from widely different backgrounds and live in different communities; yet they all share an appreciation for these little bits of history and art. In sharing, they have found support and friendship that runs deep.

<p>Thirty years ago, Helen Vance was working in her antiques shop in Homestead, Fla., when a woman came in and asked her if she'd like to buy an old button collection the woman had inherited.</p><p>“She said she had loose buttons in a box, but she couldn't lift it, that's how many buttons she had,” Vance said. “I didn't know much about buttons at the time, but my husband and I went to her house to get them, and I started sorting through them. That's how I got hooked.”</p><p>Today, Vance has a whole room dedicated to buttons, and the walls throughout her Brevard home are lined with large cards displaying buttons she's entered in various contests around the country. She estimates she has at least 40,000 buttons.</p><p>“I've started counting a few times, but I always get overwhelmed,” she explained.</p><p>Her collection includes a 1700s button from the Hudson Bay Company, a Victorian mourning button that contains hair from a deceased loved one and a smuggler's button that could have been used to smuggle small gems in the 18th century.</p><p>Vance is president of the Western North Carolina Button Club, an affiliate of the National Button Society, which has more than 2,500 members all over the world. Recently, she and other members of the club gathered to explain the surprisingly strong appeal of button collecting.</p><p>Researching the history behind buttons is what attracted Kay Vocelle, who travels to meetings from Taylors, S.C. “I've learned more history through buttons than I ever learned in school,” Vocelle said.</p><p>“No matter what type of button you have, you have to look up something about it.”</p><p>Vocelle's collection of Jacksonian buttons is a case in point.</p><p>These are gilt vest buttons depicting key symbols of American history during the time of Andrew Jackson's presidency. Vocelle, who is 82, has presented programs on Jacksonian buttons as well as many other topics such as French fop buttons, which were worn on men's vests after the French Revolution and reflect the social upheaval and eccentric dress of the time. When she was 70, Vocelle even wrote a book for beginning button collectors.</p><p>In the past few years, Vocelle's daughter, Cindy Baldwin, has joined her as a collector.</p><p>“Buttons are so beautiful,” Baldwin said, enthusiastically showing one of the most valuable buttons in the club — a type of shimmering beaded glass named coralene that produces a delicate and muted effect.</p><p>“That's what I like about them.”</p><p>Like many people, Mary Mason of Hendersonville remembers being fascinated by her grandmother's button box as a child.</p><p>“It was a special treat to be allowed to look at a set of gilded Civil War era buttons,” she said. When she inherited the collection, she framed some and used others to make button jars as mementos for her sisters.</p><p>To her, the allure of button collecting is largely its artistic element.</p><p>“Buttons — especially old buttons — are little works of art,” she said. “It's like I have my own miniature museum.”</p><p>Mason is an artist herself and especially enjoys examining the different materials that have been used to make buttons over the centuries, including molded wood composition and other early plastics. She has recently begun creating her own buttons either by carving them out of antler or sculpting them out of porcelain and stoneware. Her sculpted buttons are part of her series of fruit and vegetable pottery — apples, pears, grapes and more — that she produces in her Rusty Clay studio.</p><p>This past May, Mason won three blue ribbons at North Carolina's state contest, despite being a relative newcomer to competitions. The club as a whole brought back the most blue ribbons in the state.</p><p>While it might surprise outsiders, the competition and show aspects of button collecting are vigorous and widespread.</p><p>“My eyes are being opened,” Mason said with a laugh.</p><p>Last month, more than 400 people from around the world participated in the national convention in Wisconsin. Such competitions keep members searching the Internet for buttons around the globe to complete a set to enter.</p><p>For example, one recent contest category was for silver buttons, but each entry had to include five Native American silver buttons, five Mexican silver buttons, five peasant-style silver buttons and five free-choice silver buttons.</p><p>Vance, who is 84 and didn't know how to turn on her computer until her husband died in 2002, said she often spends hours searching eBay and other online sources for unique buttons. In the process, she's gotten to know button fans all over the world.</p><p>In fact, connecting with like-minded people might be the one thing all button collectors appreciate most. Club members are different ages, come from widely different backgrounds and live in different communities; yet they all share an appreciation for these little bits of history and art. In sharing, they have found support and friendship that runs deep.</p><p>“When my husband was dying, he told me, 'Thank God you've got your buttons.' ” Vocelle said. “He knew I would really connect with my hobby and my friends.”</p>